


Scaredy Cat

by Angelology



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Mentions near drowning, Multi, rt hybrid AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 21:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1794088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelology/pseuds/Angelology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt by anonymous: Ah ot6 Hybrid au where everyone jokes about how Michael doesn't like water only to find out it's less about him being part cat and more of him almost drowning once</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scaredy Cat

“Come on Michael, don’t be such a scaredy-cat.” Ray teased, pushing his chair closer to the cat hybrid to flick his beanie.   
Michael rolled his eyes, adjusting his beanie to cover more of his hair. He gave Ray an annoyed glare when the younger man tried to attempt flicking his beanie again, Ray simply shrugging innocently and moving back to his desk.

"Come on Michael, it'll be top, you'll love the swimmy bevs!" Gavin grinned at him, his editing currently forgotten as he attempted to convince Michael to join them for a nightly swim in their pool.

"The _swimmy bevs_? Jesus Christ Gavin, you come from England, you should know all about speaking fucking English!" Michael couldn't really help snapping at Gavin; all the boys had just been annoyingly persistent and they just didn't seem to get that he really did not fucking want to, end of story.

Gavin pouted, sticking his tongue out at Michael and returning to his editing. Jack was pouncing on Michael next, a little more considerate and softer than the two assholes beside him. Michael sighed as Jack stood behind him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Just because you're a cat hybrid doesn't mean you have to be scared of water, Michael." Jack joked, his thumb rubbing comforting circles on Michael's shoulder. Michael felt himself relax under the contact, calming down considerably and deciding to joke back instead of snapping again.

"Yeah, well, just because Ray is a rabbit doesn't mean he has to fuck like one, but he does that anyway." Michael turned and gave a sly smile towards Ray, who once again shrugged and replied "Guilty."

"At least come sit out with us?" Jack asked, his thumb moving to circle closer to the back of Michael's neck. He forced down the instincts to begin purring, shrugging Jack's hand off before he replied. "I'll think about it." He answered, putting his earphones back in and turning up the volume as he worked on his own editing.

The topic dropped quickly, and Michael was back to his normal self by the time they started recording the new Let's Play. The topic didn't return until work was over and they were separated into the two cars; Michael was with Ray and Ryan, the latter driving.

"So, Michael, what is up with you and this whole water thing? Is it seriously a cat instinct?" Ray asked from the back, his head poking through the middle of two seats in the front. Ryan swiftly pushed his head back, saying that his floppy ears were " _way too distracting, thank you_."

Michael shrugged, looking over at Ryan for some help. Ryan picked up on his discomfort easily and quickly brought up a topic that kept Ray distracted long enough for the ride home.

However, Gavin was not so easy to get rid of.

"Come on Michael, you never swim with us! We could teach you, you know, if you don't know how to swim and-"

"Gavin, honestly, _please_ just shut up about it. I just don't like swimming, alright?" Michael could feel his tail swaying in irritation, frustrated that the Lads would just not let the damn topic go. Gavin suddenly looked extremely guilty, his gaze downcast and his wings curling around himself defensively.

Michael sighed, guilty that he had now snapped twice at his Brit. "Boi, if it makes you feel any better, I promise I'll have some bevs outside with you."

Gavin suddenly lit up and was showing his grin, extremely excited at the idea. Usually, Michael didn't even like going outside while they all swam in their backyard pool, so for him to even go outside and drink with them was a huge step.

The boys left him alone while they all changed and grabbed the drinks, Michael deciding to come out once he found his DS. Once he did so, he walked outside to see all his boys in the pool, Gavin on top of Geoff's shoulders with his wings extended as he battled Ray who sat on Jack's shoulders. They fought with pool noodles, wacking each other in an attempt to get them to fall off their partner. Gavin's wings kept him at balance, and eventually he was crowned victor as a particularly hard blow on Ray's chest sent him flying back into the pool with a huge _splash._ He didn't remain on top of Geoff's shoulders for long, however, the man quickly throwing Gavin into the pool and laughing maniacally.

Michael grinned and sat a fair distance away from the edge of the pool, opening up his DS as Ryan climbed out and sat beside him.   
Michael's face scrunched up at the strong smell of the chlorine that lingered on Ryan, cursing his heightened sense of smell. Chlorine wasn't the only thing he picked up, however, alcohol also lingering in the man's scent. Ryan handed him an opened bottle of beer, Michael taking it gratefully.

They sat in a comfortable silence, watching as the boys in the pool got progressively more and more intoxicated and daring. Gavin had attempted to backflip off the roof (again), but Jack seemed sober enough to convince him that probably wasn't a great idea. Ray was just joining in, drunk on the excitement rather than actual alcohol.

Ryan eventually spoke up, choosing his words carefully. "Do you really have an issue with swimming because of the cat stuff?"

Michael paused his game and scratched behind his ears before he turned to Ryan. He was about to answer him before Gavin cut in, the slur in his voice clearly indicating he was well beyond drunk.

"Seems a bit silly, doesn't it?" The Brit laughed, "you and water. Like you're a cat, and cats don't like water, but you're also a human and humans like water. You look more cat than human.. Wait, no, more human than cat so I don't see why you act more cat."

Michael frowned, "You're not making sense, Gav, I'm pretty sure I don't lick myself."

"You would if you could!" The other man argued, and they were quickly in some stupid drunken argument, Gavin usually just slurring out the insult of Michael being a "scaredy-cat."

The argument distracted him enough so that he didn't notice Geoff getting out of the pool sneakily, walking out of Michael's vision and behind him. Michael didn't even notice Geoff was behind him until the man picked him up bridal-style.

Michael knew all of them (except Ray) were well beyond drunk and weren't really in control of their actions. Still, he couldn't help but immediately curse at Geoff and all his relatives as the man carried him closer and closer towards the pool.

"Geoff, holy shit, put me down right fucking now, this isn't funny, come on just put me down-" Michael's insults turned to pleas as he fought to get out of Geoff's grasp.

"Sorry buddy, but someone needs to cool off." Geoff laughed and Michael panicked, attempting to grasp at anything he could and fight his way out of the arms holding him. The edge of the pool was coming closer, and holy fucking shit he could not go in there, he couldn't fucking swim for fucks sake, _come on Geoffery it's not funny, do not fucking walk closer to the pool I swear to God._

Ryan shouted something frantically, but Michael couldn't decipher it as he was thrown into the air, body twisting as he fell towards the waters surface.

He was sinking, even as his body violently twisted and fought to get to the surface. Alcohol twisted his vision and thoughts and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to find the surface, he was going to sink to the bottom of the pool and drown all because he decided it would be all right to hang out with his ridiculously drunk boyfriends around water.

He really should've known better.

Michael stopped his fighting, knowing he was probably making it worse. He fought past the panicking instincts, deciding to just allow himself to calmly float and hope at least one of his boyfriends came to their senses and noticed that he wasn't able to resurface.

" _I swear to God, I'm haunting all of your fucking asses in the afterlife._ " He thought to himself,  but knew it wasn't fair to blame the boys. They didn't know about his problem with water, it was his fault for keeping it a secret from them. He knew they wouldn't have thrown him in if they knew, so if he drowned it was all of his fault. Plain and simple.

He closed his eyes and resigned his fate, failing to notice the bodies swimming frantically closer to him. His remaining oxygen escaped him in surprise as he was grabbed and violently lurched towards the surface.

He gasped for air as he was pulled towards the edge of the pool, hands grabbing him and pulling him out. He opened his eyes to see five very concerned men hovering above him, seemingly a lot more sober and... Guilty ?

"You fucking dickhead," Geoff broke the silence and Michael smiled at the harsh words that were laced with worry, "You didn't fucking tell me you couldn't swim! You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" Geoff continued ranting, but his gaze softened. "I'm so sorry, Michael. I'm so sorry." He continued to apologize, all of his boys chanting in as well.

Michael smiled a little, just glad he was alive and away from the water. He sat up with the help of his boys, who all looked extremely guilty and apologetic.

"Guys, shut up for a sec. Look, I didn't want you all knowing for a reason, and I can't really blame your stupid drunk asses for knowing any better. It's just that.." He faltered, looking past the men surrounding him and towards the water, "it's just that... I never learned to swim because I was too scared to go in the water."

He paused, looking at the faces around him. They didn't look sympathetic, to his relief. They looked concerned, each one of them reaching out and touching some part of his body and soothing him.

"It's not because of the whole cat thing. Never had any instincts that screamed ' _get away from the fucking scary water_ ' or anything. Those instincts came in after the little... Incident."

Each of them snapped their gazes to him, concern and curiosity clear on their faces. Michael took a deep breath, his right ear beginning to twitch which only ever happened when he felt extremely uneasy.

"I was young, about seven or so. Went to a friend's house and looked outside, slipped and fell right into the deep end like a total dumbass. My friend didn't even notice, it was pure luck I didn't drown because his dad had come outside to get some supplies he had left behind or some bullshit and saved my ass. But when I fell in, I immediately sunk and had no idea how to swim, and the absolute panic of the whole thing is in no way peaceful. People that say drowning is peaceful? Nearly done it twice now, total bullshit. Your chest feels like it might explode and you can only hear your frantic heartbeat and the whole thing just fucking sucks."

Silence surrounded them, each one trying to take in the new information. Michael didn't like the stunned silence and attempted to quickly get rid of it.

"So yeah, guess that blows all your ideas of the whole cat instinct bullshit."

Ray was quick to reply, "Guess so, but I can still call you a scaredy-cat."

They all walked back inside the house, Jack quickly going to go fetch him a towel and some dry clothes. Michael was glad to realize that he had dropped his DS while Geoff had picked him up, so it remained dry and safe.

They all sat around Michael, the ones closest to him pressing gentle kisses to any exposed skin they could get. It was their form of an apology, and because Michael liked the attention he didn't try and stop them.

Once they were all dry and a lot more sober, Geoff came up with an idea they all quickly agreed on.

As soon as they woke up and got past their hangovers, they were going to teach Michael how to swim. Michael was hesitant at first, but within two weeks of practice he was able to laze around in the water comfortably on a hot day, and by two months he was joining in on his boyfriends' stupid, drunken antics on their "swimmy bev" nights.

**Author's Note:**

> The responses I have received for my fics is absolutely insane, and I would just like to thank you all so much for the support with the kudos, comments and messages. You're all amazing and I love all of you so, so much <3 This isn't edited, so please excuse any mistakes. I'll fix them as soon as I can (:  
> If you want to prompt anything, go do so on my tumblr: youre-my-bois  
> Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
